A Chance Encounter
by Swasson
Summary: Emmett is left alone with a baby and he knows for sure that he'll never make it without his wife, until he has a chance encounter with a woman who will change his whole life.
1. There Was a Blonde

Oh, God. There was so much stuff. There was too much of everything. Emmett had no idea what to do! He didn't know where to begin or where to end! He looked back at the shopping cart and checked on the tiny baby resting in the car seat. He was okay. He was asleep. His heart broke for the little boy. He was cursed with someone like Emmett for a father. He took a deep breath and looked back at all of the merchandise.

How the hell was he going to get through the day?

He picked up one package of diapers and studied it carefully, as if he was an anthropologist and he was trying to decipher someone. He did the same thing with another package, and he suddenly felt as if he were going to cry. How the hell could he do this?

Suddenly, he heard someone clear their throat next to him. He turned to face the person. It was a woman, a tiny, thin, short blonde woman. Both of her eyebrows were raised at him inquisitively. She lowered only one of them and slowly removed one of the packages from his hand. "These? Are shit. Not good for catching it, especially on a baby. Use Pampers. They're slightly more expensive by like 10 cents or something, but…when it comes to that little guy, are you sure you want cost over quality? I'd go for quality." She smiled brightly. "Your son is adorable. He's been flirting with me while you were deciding what brand of diapers to buy for him."

Emmett was dumbfounded. What just happened? He suddenly snapped out of his trace. "His-his name is…Christopher. Christopher Forrest."

"So that makes you Mr. Forrest? Well, I'm Ms. Woods. Where's Mrs. Forrest?"

Oh, God… she had to ask, didn't she? Avoid the subject! "Ms. Woods? Do you have a-a first name?"

"It's Elle." She shook his hand. "Elle Woods."

"It's nice to meet you." He put the diapers into his cart and turned back to her. "Is…is there a Mr. Woods?"

"Not unless you count my father. Woods is my maiden name. I'm single."

"Single as in not married or single as in you have a boyfriend but you're still not married?"

"Single as in I don't have a husband or a boyfriend. Um, listen, it was nice talking you…"

"Emmett."

She grinned. "It was nice talking to you, Emmett, but I've gotta run. I have a dance class in twenty that I have to teach. Maybe I'll see you around?"

"Um…maybe?"

She grinned again. "Yeah. Maybe. Bye, Emmett." She looked down at the little baby. "Bye, sweetie. You've got a good daddy on your hands! Don't go wasting him!" She gave one last smile and disappeared into the store.

Somewhere, Emmett knew that someone, hopefully Sarah, was looking out for him.


	2. And She Saved Him

_A/N: As much as I love Leslie, Tracy Jai was my first Serena, so that's who you should envision, because that's who I'm envisioning, too._

It didn't take her all that long to realize that Emmett had avoided the subject of Christopher's mother. It wasn't her business, and even if it was she didn't really care. He seemed very nice. He was a frazzled, first-time dad and she just wanted to help him out.

Elle wasn't a mother herself, but she was the middle child out of ten kids. She'd grown up raising a lot of babies, and she loved them! She was a babysitter for a little while in her teen years, and she taught a toddler dance class down at the local community center studio. She knew a thing or two about babies. She also desperately longed to be a mother, but at this point in her life… Well, for starters she was single. Secondly, she was still very young! She was 22, not nearly old enough to birth her own children. She would someday. She wanted so badly to have her own family. She almost decided to be an OBGYN, but in college realized she wasn't smart enough, nor did she have the passion she thought she would for it, so she dropped out and applied to the Julliard School. She was accepted, and there she honed a talent that she thought had just been a hobby for as long as she could remember. Now, she was a teacher while searching for work as a dancer.

She had a great life, but that itching feeling in the back of her mind to have children never left her. Her heart ached when she saw women on the street with their children, or when she saw families playing together in the park. She loved every single one of the little boys and girls she taught at the studio! She knew every one of them by name and treated them as if they were her own.

There was something about that Emmett guy, though, that she just couldn't get out of her mind. He looked so sad and so lost… Perhaps she shouldn't have left him there to fend for himself…

With a confused sigh, Elle pulled into the parking lot of the dance studio. She could hardly concentrate on anything! She got out of her car and grabbed both boxes of cupcakes and headed into the studio where a bunch of little girls and boys were warming up for that day's class. Little did they know that it was Ms. Elle's birthday today and Elle NEVER worked on her birthday!

The whole class, little kids were running around, throwing things and having a blast dancing to music they never got to listen to and eating cupcakes that they were never allowed to eat. It was a great joy of Elle's, making little kids happy. She loved nothing more!

One of her teaching partners noticed the slightly glum look on her face and sauntered over to her friend. "Hey, Elle! Oh, happy birthday, sweetie! The big 2-2! How does it feel?"

"Um, just like 21, only…without the hangover. Thanks, though, Serena. You're wonderful."

"For what?"

Elle shrugged. "For just being you; for being my friend. You're the best I've ever had."

"Aww, Ellie!" Serena wrapped her thin arms around Elle and gave her a sweet hug. "What do you plan on doing today? Just this? Just class and a bunch of screaming kids? We should go out!"

"Go out? Ugh, no thank you. Not even in the mood for that."

Her eyes widened. "What?! Why not?!"

"It's just been kind of a long day. We can go out this weekend, I promise. You, me, Margot and Pilar. We can hit up a few clubs if that's what you want."

"Oh, honey, it is NOT about what I want. It's about what you want. It's your birthday. If you want to stay home by yourself for once, that's totally fine with me." She smiled. "I just want you happy, honey! Delta Nu sisters are supposed to make their other sisters happy!"

"You know, honestly… I would LOVE to just go to the salon or the spa and just have a day off, you know? No kids, no work, no bosses… Just me, my girls, some champagne, and a chocolate facial, or a mud wrap, or, something along those lines."

"Ooh, a manicure!"

"YES."

Serena grinned. "Elle, that sounds totally perfect. I'll go plan it right now! This weekend, okay?" She gave Elle a kiss on the cheek and got up to go do whatever she wanted to do.

The following day, Elle found herself in a similar position that she was in the day before! Watching a poor, single father decide what kind of baby item to buy his baby. It was the same guy, though, and this time he was holding up diaper wipes, when suddenly the baby started to cry. Emmett jumped and dropped both brands of wipes, and rushed to the baby's side. He seriously looked as if he was going to cry!

"Why are you crying?! What is wrong with you!? Come on, shh! I've got you!"

Elle rushed over and set her basket down near his cart. "Hey, calm down. He probably just wants to be held a little bit, okay?" she said to Emmett soothingly. She picked the little boy out of the cart and cradled him against her shoulder. He calmed down, loving the warmth and the softness of the new woman. She looked up at Emmett and he had tears in his eyes. "Emmett, what's wrong?"

Fuck. Fuck! He was a man! He wasn't supposed to be crying! He turned away from her and wiped his eyes, and then turned back to her, stuttering. "I-I-I-It's… I can't… I don't even… I don't know! I don't know! I can't even… I can't do this!"

"Whoa…okay, um… Just calm down, sweetie. Do you want to go somewhere and talk? I know what a nervous break-down looks like and you look like you're about to have one!"

"Oh, God… I-I think I need to…I need that, desperately." He looked at her gratefully. "But, uh...which, um...which brand of, um-"

"Pampers." And then Elle smiled. That smile made his entire day better.


	3. She Was Sweet and Kind

The day seemed to grow increasingly more bright and beautiful with Elle near him, Emmett had decided. She was a lovely woman, and a nice, kind and gentle person. She was especially good with Christopher. He had no idea how or why, but he wasn't one to question desperately needed help, especially at a time like this, when he was about to cry at any second.

He sat across from her at their table at Denny's, watching her play with the child. Christopher was still an infant, so he couldn't do much other than crack a smile here and there. She bounced him gently and made weird faces at him. She was shameless when it came to making him laugh, and Emmett loved that about her. She didn't care that she looked like a moron, she just cared about making him laugh! She was kind of making Emmett laugh a little bit, too.

After a few minutes, she laughed softly and then calmed down, cradling the baby. "So, um…you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, it's totally alright! But, you never answered my question yesterday." She picked up a few of her seasoned fries and dipped them in the ketchup, then plopped them into her mouth.

"What question?"

"Where's Mrs. Forrest?" she asked, covering her mouth. She felt like a slob, talking with her mouth full.

Emmett's eyes darkened. "She died."

Okay, NOT expecting that! "Oh-oh, my God. Emmett, I-I am so sorry. I didn't mean to pry!"

"No! No, it's okay. I-I have to talk about it sometime, right?"

Elle sighed softly. She felt so horrible. "I am so sorry. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. I did not mean to…pry like that. It's none of my business, really." She looked down at the little baby in her arms and smiled. "He is so beautiful, Emmett. How old is he?"

"He's about three weeks old. His, uh, mom, Sarah…she died giving birth to him."

"Emmett, I mean it. You don't have to tell me."

"No, I-I need to, for me. Her name was Sarah. We've been married for about three years. It wasn't her fault, or my fault or the doctor's fault…she just, she died. And…she left me alone with a baby that I don't know how to deal with. I have no idea what to do with a baby."

"Well, it's a good thing you met me because I do." She grinned. "I'm the middle child of ten kids. I used to babysit. I want to be a mom really bad. I know a thing or two about adorable little babies." She leaned down and gently pressed her lips to his forehead. Her soft lips felt nice against him and he cracked a tiny baby smile. His bright blue eyes were shining up at her. "I'm serious. Christopher is a little angel. I've never seen a more beautiful little boy and trust me; I've seen a lot of babies!"

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why are you here? Why are you helping me? Why are you being so nice?! Are you sure you're not the angel?"

She laughed. "I don't know. I just know that I want to help you. This… It can't be easy."

"It is…definitely not easy."

"I'm sorry. I really am sorry," she told him, whispering softly.

"Can I hold him?"

"Oh, sure!"

She handed the little boy back to him and watched Emmett coddle over his son. He kissed him and smiled down at him and whispered to him. "He looks like her."

"I wouldn't know. I just see you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He looks just like you. Your big eyes…only his are blue. Were Sarah's eyes blue?" Emmett nodded. "He has your hair and your nose, and your ears. He's going to be a daddy's boy."

"How do you know all of these things, Elle?"

"I don't, but it's what I hope and it's what I wish and…what I see. My eyes don't lie to me, never have."

He grinned at her, and it was probably the first time he'd smiled in weeks. "Well, now that you know my story…what's yours? What do you do?"

"I'm a dancer. I teach dance classes at the local community center, and…that's it. No boyfriend, no husband, no kids…nothing. I don't have anything. I so envy what you do have. You are so lucky to be blessed with such a perfect little boy."

"You'll get that someday. How old are you?"

"I am 22. I just turned 22 yesterday."

He laughed! "Oooh, 22! I remember those years. Horrible. Worst year of my life! Happy birthday, though. A girl like you is bound to be lucky for her entire life."

"Uh, I don't think so. How old are you?"

"I am 26. God…a widowed 26 year old and single father. That is sad."

"No. It's unfortunate. You deserve to be happy and you will be someday."

"Was this a one-time thing, this lunch at Denny's? I would love to do this again. You seem like a great girl to be around and I could really use a friend and some help."

She grinned. "I would love to be your friend! As long as I get to see this little guy more often."

"You know, all he does when I hold him is cry. This is the first time he's been relatively happy in my arms since…ever. Thank you. I blame you for this."

"Well, you're welcome! You are so welcome!"

He grinned at her, and she grinned at him. Yup. Sarah was definitely looking out for him.


End file.
